HUGE LOSSES THROW PUBLIC PENSION FUNDS INTO CRISIS

Losses of $1 trillion on investments by U.S. state and local pension funds covering police officers, teachers and other government employees are forcing managers of the retirement plans into a difficult choice. They must either try to boost returns by taking on even riskier investments or start cutting benefits. An analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers concludes that within an average of 15 years, public pension funds will have less than half of the money needed to pay promised benefits. The Washington Post